Diego Lopes, Yair Rodriguez trade barbs over avoiding fights – with more than each other
Diego Lopes, Yair Rodriguez trade barbs over avoiding fights – with more than each other
The drama between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez has ramped up.
After getting into a heated confrontation at the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference in April, it seemed things died down until now. Lopes, a former UFC title challenger, took to Instagram on Monday to accuse "El Pantera" of turning him down for this year's Noche UFC event in September.
"Hey, Yair Rodriguez, I just learned that you got a call from Hunter (Campbell), and you turned down to fight me at Noche UFC," Lopes wrote on Instagram in Spanish. "Where's the man that was in front of me at the press conference?"
During their UFC tenure, Lopes and Rodriguez appeared to be friendly toward each other until that UFC 314 fight week in April. Rodriguez, who fought and defeated "Pitbull" on that card, went off on Lopes, accusing him of jumping his friend, Marco Beltran, whom Lopes submitted and had beef with outside the UFC. Rodriguez also criticized Lopes for representing Mexico. Lopes is from Brazil but has been living and fighting out of Mexico for many years.
Tension has been high between the two since, and this latest back-and-forth proved that it's not settled.
It didn't take long for Lopes to get a response from Rodriguez on Monday, as hours later Rodriguez posted a video on his Instagram, confirming that he did reject the fight but due to injuries from his fight against Patricio Freire.
"This damn sport is tough. I'd love for things to be different because it's become a circus, to be honest," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "The p*ssy Diego Lopes is saying that I don't want to fight against him, and that's not the case at all. I'm a little disappointed with UFC with the fact that they offered me a fight with, because they just offered to fight him. Let's take a step back first. What happened? When I had the chance to fight Diego, he said no because I was coming off a loss, but now that he's coming off a loss, he wants to fight me. I don't think he's very consistent with what he says. I obviously don't have any problem fighting him. If you ask me, I'd rather fight him in the damn street because a fight against him in the UFC doesn't do much for me. I'm not going to get paid more. It does absolutely nothing. It won't put me in a better position either because he's coming off a loss.
"I'm also still injured from the last fight, so before anything, I first have to see where I'm at with that. I went to see a doctor, and he recommended surgery. Obviously I'm avoiding that at all cost, but let's see where this situation takes me. I just wanted to come on here and clarify the situation. I have not turned down the fight, and I'd be more than happy to fight against this damn sh*t-head and his entire team, who can all suck it. So just that. I want you guys to understand my position because I'm already getting attacked, and what else can you expect. People always come and attack when you're down and hurt. But that's it. Let's see what happens with my health and if I can avoid the surgery."
Rodriguez went on to accuse Lopes of turning down a fight himself. He claims rising contender Jean Silva is looking to fight Lopes, and Lopes is trying to avoid him.
"In the meantime, I'd like to see Diego stop running from Jean Silva and have a showdown with him," Rodriguez said. "He's running from him. But yeah, let's see what happens with my health, and we'll take it from there."
Lopes didn't stay quiet about Rodriguez's rebuttal. He made a second post on Instagram addressing the claim of avoiding Silva.
"Let's look at the facts," Lopes wrote in Spanish. "After the fight against Volk, UFC contacted me asking how my health was. I gave them all the recommendations that the doctors gave me, which was that I'd be ready for September. They offered me Aaron Pico, I said yes. Two days later, I was offered Jean Silva, I said yes. When UFC changed Noche UFC to San Antonio, (UFC offered) Yair Rodriguez, I said yes. I also offered to fight Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy. If you have any doubts, ask Dana (White), Hunter (Campbell), or Sean (Shelby) if I've ever turned down a fight. The day that I turn down a fight would be because I have a serious health problem, and it's impossible for me to fight. My career was built accepting fights. There's a reason why I have 33 professional fights."
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